[2019-09-19] Oil leads São Tomé and Príncipe to negotiate with Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria

Source: Macauhub

The São Tome and Príncipe government will begin negotiations with Equatorial Guinea and revise its treaty with Nigeria on joint oil exploration, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Communities.

Minister Elsa Pinto, who did not mention dates for the start of negotiations with those two countries, said that the two initiatives represent a “challenge” for São Tomé and Príncipe.

The head of São Tomé’s diplomacy was speaking at the opening of two seminars on “Cooperation in the management of cross-border oil resources”, directed to senior leaders and officials of the state administration and organised by the National Oil Agency.

The seminars are led by a Norwegian expert and are being held in the context of talks with Equatorial Guinea for the establishment of formal cooperation mechanisms in the management of cross-border oil resources.

Pinto said that the country was experiencing, “a new reality” that “needs to be dealt with masterfully as if it is poorly managed it could lead to conflicts between states.”

The minister outlined the history of the border delimitation processes not only with these two countries but also with Gabon and stressed that the biggest problem arose with Nigeria due to the fact that it had approved a law that changed the principle of sea border delimitation.